Little Paper Parties

Sooo... I've done it. I've decided to give kiddies party decor a red-hot-go.  You can tell I'm dedicated by the creation of the Facebook page Little Paper Parties which basically is up to encourage me to keep going and not give up on what could be my calling :)

I did however promise some recipes and I've currently only delivered on the Rocky Road. I promise tomorrow arvo I'll do the one for Chocolate Spiders and if I'm feeling adventurous, the creation of the cake too.

Going to snuggle down now into a warm bed while the coldest weather Hobart has seen in quite some time rolls around outside. Brrrrrr.

My Rocky Road

This recipe was invented by my mum. Then I stole it and I've been passing it off as my own! Genius I hear you say! Quite.

But it is so yummy that I really should share it with you because keeping it to myself is nasty.

Lets get one thing straight. There is NO COCONUT in this recipe. Not that I have anything against the stuff, its just whenever people put it in Rocky Road I want to go out of my way to punch them in the face. Oh and there are no cherries in this either because I'm not really a fan of those.

Ingredients:

50g of flaked almonds
100g of those mini baking marshmallows (1 bag of the Betta Mallow Bakes is easiest)
375g of milk cooking chocolate (I like to use Nestle Melts because they taste awesome)
2 x 55g Fry's Turkish delight chocolate

For those of you people that need to be visually stimulated - here you go:

What you do:

Chop up both of the blocks of Turkish Delight in small squares. If you're like me you actually will need three for this part, two for the recipe and one to eat. Nom nom nom.

Melt the cooking chocolate as the directions state. You can do it over boiling water if that's your thing but if you can't be bothered with that just use the microwave. Most recommend you put it in for 30 seconds on a medium level before checking it over. If it needs to go again just do it in 10 second bursts at medium until it is melted enough.

Also remember that the chocolate stays hot so if you have a few small pieces not totally melted when you take it out, its all good - they'll disappear when you are putting in all your other bits.

Pour your flaked almonds, mallow bakes and chopped up Turkish Delight into the melted chocolate and with a spatula mix it all through until everything is evenly coated.

In a square or rectangle cake tin tip in your mix and spread it out evenly.

Chuck it in the fridge for an hour or two to let the whole thing set, then pull it out chop it up into squares (or mangle it with a knife like I do) and 'Tada!' Really easy, really yummy Rocky Road (or as it was known at the party "Rocky Rubble".

Now I'm hungry. I wonder if we have any chocolate melts...

The Party Plug

I've had so much feedback from Charlie's party and it has all been wonderful. I'm so glad I have an outlet such as this to have shown you what we did to celebrate or it possibly would've just been enjoyed by us and that's it.  Thank you for all your kind words, I'm glad you all enjoyed it too.

I have been asked by several people where I got everything from and so I felt a post to give you the link would be the best way to show you.

Now I love Etsy. As in, I open the app on my iPhone at least... oh... maybe eight to nine times a day just to see what is new. Yep. After Facebook and Pinterest it is my next favourite thing.

Anywho.

Kelly's Cottage Shoppe on Etsy

That's it right there.

She has heaps of awesome themes etc. and the best part is they are all downloadable. Downside is that you need to have a fairly decent printer to actually make them look as good as the pictures are, and you have to be VERY willing to do plenty of cutting out (yep, if I wasn't on maternity leave I wouldn't have even bothered).

Watching it all come together actually got me thinking about the very possibility of me starting my own party-decor type... Would I say business? No. Probably more along the lines of hobby.

I love hand-made party stuff much more than the commercial bits and bobs.  The only thing about hand-made is that it takes ages to do it yourself and most of us just don't have the time/energy for it (usually because of those little people in our lives we want to have a party for). Or to achieve that hand-made look we pay WAY TOO MUCH for it to be made by somebody else.

Watch this space, I'm having a play with a few ideas - trying to work out if it is even something that could be a possible option for me to take up. Hand-made kids party decor at a price us normal mums/dads/carers can afford... That would be nice.

I've got my chocolate milk, electric blanket on and a new episode of Switched at Birth ready to go. I think it will be a lovely late night.

The Fireman Party

Well today was the day! We had a frantic start to the morning with one swimming lesson, a chase for a new TV around town (stupid decision to try and do that before the guests arrived I know), two cranky boys desperate for a sleep in the car and me who actually kind of wanted to get back into bed and have a nap myself...

Ahem. Anyway...

Parents, Parents-in-law, Sister + Boyfriend, Sister-in-law, Grandparents and Grandparents-in-law all started to arrive, we were still rushing around sorting out the decor and finally all of a sudden, the hard work from the week paid off to look something like this...

(Click on any of the pictures to see them better)

Now you may look at it and go 'meh' but I'm actually very proud of how it all came together in the end.  Balloons are particularly special because I was seconds away from getting a parking ticket whilst racing in to get them! We live our lives on the wild-side that's for sure.

We have Fire Hoses, Smouldering M&Ms and Fire Station Poles on the left and Firewood and Rocky Rubble on the right. Over the coming days I'm going to share the recipes for my Firewood and Rocky Rubble, in true 'me' style, they are ridiculously easy and taste so very, very good.

Here we have Toasty Marshmallows and Smokin' Popcorn on the left and Fiery Jelly on the right. The marshmallows were an idea from Pinterest and the jelly was an idea from my mum. Instead of just having straight layers of raspberry, orange and mango flavours, each one was tilted whilst it was setting in the fridge to give it a 'flame-like' effect. And as a bonus, they were YUM!

Very proud of my cupcakes here. In particular the toppers my mum helped me make. They were done using her Cricut Cutter (scrapbooking gadget) and I layered them together to make them look like they do.

Over on the buffet we had the drinks station, although I don't have the 'Fireman Fizz' we had on offer in the picture, it tasted sooo good (pretty much was just sparkling mineral water) and the Party Boxes each of our guests got to fill with lollies, and goodies before they went home.

A big thank-you goes out to my mum, mum-in-law and nan-in-law for helping out making the savouries for the day.  Home-made Quiches and Sausage Rolls (and yummy cheeses and dips too but the photo turned out blurry. Whoops).

And here it is. The House-On-Fire Cake. I worked for HOURS on this yesterday. I'll post the photos of it as a work in progress in the next few days. I can't do them justice right now. All you need to know is that when you're paying $300 for someone to make you an awesome cake... they're not over-charging you.

The thing that excited me most was how much Charlie loved it, he wanted to touch it and pull the 'Sam' off of it and kept pointing to the candles and saying "Oh fire on the house!" So I feel that although it was lop-sided and some of the roof fell of at one point, I have succeeded in the parenting department because he loved it so much.

WINNING.

And here he is - Station Officer Charlie (Or as he calls himself "Charlie Bobbit Mitt-more") he is just a little bit cute. Oh and as you can see there is a Thomas which was one of his gifts. I can actually hear him bashing it on his bedroom wall as I type this, should I go in there and take it off him? Nah, it's his day and to be honest I can't be bothered. I'll just get Simon to repaint that wall another day.

And where there is a Station Officer you will always find a Deputy Station Officer. In this case we have Deputy Station Officer Henry. Oh Henny is just such a button. I'm already planning ideas for his birthday too. Look out Henny!

My darling Fireman Charlie ripped his presents apart in true toddler-like fashion. Not interested in the cards in any way, shape or form, I was also mortified to watch him throw each gift aside before pointing to the next wrapped delight after he had finished with it.  I can only reassure myself that he wasn't being a spoilt brat and it was actually the joy of ripping the paper off that caused him to do this.

If I believe this it'll help me sleep better at night thinking I don't have a crazy child... Oh wait he broke our TV this week didn't he? Maybe he is a bit nutty. Uh well, he's my crazy kid if that's the case and I do love him so.

So thanks to all our family that came today, we had a lovely time celebrating with you all and Charlie has no clue exactly how loved he is. I'll make sure he gets to see these photos one day so he knows.

I'm so exhausted. I actually want to go to sleep but I have to wait for Charlie to crash-out first. This could be a long night of a sugar-rush battle of wills. Blerk. I think I'm going to be sick.

Party Planning: Day Five

That's it. I'm done. Well except for the cupcakes. But I'm so sick of icing and cake so it'll be much safer if I have a sleep and then pick up where I left off tomorrow.

 

'Operation: Build-A-Cake-House-Then-Set-It-On-Fire' was a success. Well as much as it was ever going to be. I am happy with it but will not set any expectations for you. Let's just say its not Pinterest-Worthy, but let's face it - barely anything made by normal people is.

I will put up photos of it tomorrow, I don't want to spoil the surprise tonight.

I'm so exhausted. Happy, but exhausted.

Oh and Henny turned 6 months today! Such an old man now!

Love love,

xoxo

Party Planning: Day Four

By now you must be thinking,' how many people can she have coming to this thing if it takes this much effort to get it ready?' And I laugh at this point because we've only got about 14 people coming.

I'll be honest, I didn't do much today anyways. Just printed a few more labels, dipped some marshmallows in white chocolate, ate the rest of said white chocolate and had to sit down because it made me feel queasy.

Oh and I filled up the M&Ms jar. All my colour sorting has paid off!

No, I thought I'd rest up today in preparation for 'Operation: Build-A-Cake-House-Then-Set-It-On-Fire' tomorrow.

I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew this time...

Love love,

xoxo

Party Planning: Day Three

So today I made Rocky Road, Chocolate Spiders, baked the second half of the cake and started the jellies. So very very busy. The house is a mess, Simon is hating it.

Uh well, at least it'll look awesome on Saturday :)

This is the jellies doing their special leaning trick in the fridge...

Love love,

xoxo.

Party Planning: Day Two

So I've spent the entire day working on party things again. Today was a gift-boxes, labels, drink cups and pop-corn boxes kind of day. Oh and I conquered the birthday banner too.

Got some yummy foods to tackle tomorrow and then I'll be straight back onto the decor again. I do love party-planning so :)

Love love,

xoxo

Party Planning: Day One

So I have spent the day baking cakes, decorating table things, and realising that if Charlie's 2nd birthday takes this much effort, just imagine how crazy it will be in 8 months time in the final count down days to the wedding. My goodness.

You will probably be wisest to just stay away and let me work myself into a frenzy.

Just a few quick photos of some of the organising...

So to the left we have the different colours of the serving bits and pieces and to the right we have the start of the favour boxes and the cupcake toppers for the Flaming Cupcakes. 

This here has been THE most torturous thing to have had in this house for the last few weeks. I swear knowing it was there has pretty much helped me prove to myself that I do have some capacity of will-power! But on Saturday it will all be worth it because I'll be scoffing it down along with everybody else.

Look out for more party-planning stuff tomorrow!

Love love,

xoxo

'Happy Day to You' Charlie!

So the little man is now 2. Yesterday was a milestone for both Simon and I as parents (and the amazing fact that we have kept another human alive) and for Charlie in that he most certainly is not the tiny bundle that came home with us so very long ago.

The morning started well - we actually got to sleep until 6am (which in parent-time is almost considered a sleep-in) we also got to lay in bed together while Charlie showed Henry how to play games on Simon's iPhone and when we did finally head up to the loungeroom, well - of course Charlie went into a wrapping-paper frenzy.

There were several lovely new books, a Fireman Sam costume, a Fireman Sam DVD (Oh I'm TOTES excited to watch that non-stop for the next fortnight at least) and yes he even gave a sideways glance at the new train table (which was covered in his usual Duplo people) but none of that mattered when he got to open his last present. Because just like in the movie, once the following came along, everything else became crap and not worth looking at...

The fact that he was a Buzz Lightyear wrapped in Buzz Lightyear paper made it the-very-best-present-ever-given-in-the-history-of-present-giving-EVER.

This will probably be the only time Simon and I get it right in regards to buying Charlie something that he actually wants and not the daggy parent-alternative that I'm sure grownups seemed to do when I was little. WINNING.

So moving on, we splurged and had Maccas for breakfast, had a swimming lesson and then drove straight up to Launceston to watch the football.  Little did we know that Buddy Franklin had heard it was Charlie's birthday and decided that in celebration he would kick 13 goals (his game record) just for him.

To finish the day off we called in to see my parents and celebrated with cheesecake which ironically Charlie refused to eat (maybe because he spat all over it whilst blowing out the candles... Eww remind me why we ate it then? Gross.)

And so ends a busy day. I was tired, Simon was tired, Charlie and Henry were wide awake because they'd napped in the car, so of course we then got to stay up late entertaining them until they finally crashed out at 10.30 or so. Joy.

I have a little/big man who was thoroughly spoilt by his family and sent copious amounts of love and well wishes on Facebook (I'm sure with how tech-savvy he is, he'll have an account set up before he gets to kinder) and texts. I'm sure if he could read them he would hi-five each and every one of you back in appreciation.

Looking forward to the actual party next Saturday. Far out, if this is his second birthday how full on is his third going to be???

Love love,

xoxo

Birthday eve

It is apon us. Charlie's birthday is nearly here. Am I happy about it? Yes but I'm a bit scared too. Where did those last two years go??? Here's a few pics of the presents awaiting the 5am wake-up in the morning...

Love love

xoxo

Simon stole my laptop.

Yep. Now what do I do? I can't upload photos, I can't watch movies, I cant do anything except sit in bed and play games on my iPhone.

Well I could do other things but they would involve getting out of bed. And yes, I'm lazy enough to complain about being lost without the ol' Compaq instead of actually doing something about it.

I did get some swish photos of the upcoming party theme today though. I'll upload them in the morning. I keep coming up with bigger, better ideas. It's like I'm using Charlie's birthday as a practice run for how my Pinterest board of ideas will all come together somehow for the wedding. Whoops.

Love love,

xoxo.

Fireman Sam vs Shaun the Sheep

So within the next few days (June 2nd) Charlie turns 2. This scares the hell out of me for two simple reasons:

1. Toddlers at the age of 2 are nightmares.
2. I have to tackle a 2nd birthday party.

Now luckily (or not-so-luckily) Charlie has already started pushing every button he can to drive his mumma up the wall so it's not actually something which is just going to start like this "BAM". It's like a game. A game that never ends and that I cannot escape. A game in which there is never a winner. EVER.  I know all parents think their kids are smart, but I KNOW Charlie is cluey because he out-smarts me all the time (and back in the day before the copious amounts of sleep-deprivation I used to be considered intelligent myself). HOW ON EARTH CAN A NOT-EVEN-2-YEAR-OLD-YET do this to his mother (and his father) constantly? So yes, the Terrible-Twos started MONTHS AGO for us.

The party however I'm a bit excited for. Charlie's latest obsession (this is a very vague term - he practically worships the show) is Fireman Sam. To be honest, there are far worse things he could be interested in. And so I have allowed him to adore it, watch it constantly etc and begun work on a Fireman Party.

Pinterest has been great for ideas and tomorrow I think I'll take some photos of the things I've made to make it special. There are several sweet treats which will have a fireman-theme and the cake... Well lets just say I haven't picked the easiest cake to make. Goodness knows if I'll be able to manage it anyway! For now the only photo I have uploaded onto the laptop is what his invitations look like...

But as quickly as he dropped Cars for Toy Story, and Toy Story for Fireman Sam, he is fast becoming a HUGE fan of Shaun the Sheep.

Now to be honest I don't mind at all, I actually love Shaun the sheep. A lot. and I would probably watch it if it was on TV and he wasn't here anyway. BUT HE CAN'T CHANGE OBSESSIONS WHEN I'VE WORKED SO HARD ON THIS RUDDY PARTY.

Seriously. I'm just hoping he doesn't look at the balloons and fireman cake and all the lollies and party food, shrug his shoulders and say "Mum... Shaun da Sheep DBD peeese."

I think I'm over-stressing. Wow, something new right there.

Love love,

xoxo

Where the hell have you been woman?

So I've been MIA. Again. I'd lie and tell you I've been hiding under a rock but we all know that's a load of rubbish. I could give you the truth and tell you've I've been hiding under a pile of crappy-nappies but then you'd probably not invite me over to see you anymore.

No lets go with an update on what things have prevented me from taking two minutes out of any day over the last 2 months to update my blog.

1. Charlie
2. Henry
3.... I have no 3.

Two Children is HARD. REALLY HARD. Don't get me wrong, it is oh-so-rewarding when you hear Child 1 say "I luzz ooo Henry - I do. I luzz ooo" but on a whole you're either dealing with 1 or 2 (as in making sure they are both still breathing and not either A) Sticking their face in the toilet bowl because they like the acoustics or B) Learning how to roll over and landing face first on a the carpet and forgetting that they've already learnt how to lift their head up) and that is it - you rarely have time for anything else.

This is the honest truth.

On the wedding front I am both excited and annoyed.

Things that excite me:

- Flowers have arrived (and they are absolutely spot on)

- Mine and my Bridesmaids' shoes have arrived.

- Party game things (to remain a secret) have arrived.

- Several new crafty things have come to my attention and I have begun going nuts trying out the ones I think I will use (photos to come over the next week)

- Buses are organised. Phew. That is certainly a load off my mind.


Things that annoy me:

- The American dollar is now stronger again meaning the bridesmaid dresses are not as cheap anymore (POO!)

- I have realised that I have a gazillion crafty things to make (and as much as I like practicing and trying new things out, actually making enough for over 100 people SUCKS)

- The budget is effed. Yeah well that was always going to happen wasn't it. Sure.

So that is all for now.

Maybe I'll be a bit better at this again (I was pretty good for a while, two kids is seriously my excuse... what's yours?)

Love love

xoxo.

Tomorrow

I meant to update you on the big Sydney trip today but several things have prevented me from doing so. One of which is a burn the size my hand with my fingers stretched out on my right thigh. Blisters, melted skin, the works.

One day I'm sure it will be a funny story but for now it is my excuse for spending most of the day in my shorty-short Jammie's and avoiding any strenuous activity (like properly updating my blog).

So tomorrow it will get done. Promise.

xoxo

Handmade

**I just somehow managed to delete half of this post, usually when I type anything I say is something that just rolls off my head, I can't be as natural when I have to think about it to rewrite it so if this first section sounds stupid its because I'm a spaz who needs to keep her fingers away from the delete button when editing posts for stupid typos.**

Due to the impending doom that is our bank balance, Simon informed me long ago that I was not to go overboard with this wedding.

For me, NOT going overboard would be considered a crime against nature and therefor I have needed to try and find other creative ways in which to make sure I'm getting the wedding I dream about for a fraction of the price.

This is difficult to do because for some reason everyone in the wedding industry seems to want to charge you three times the amount you really should be paying. It's as if the minute they hear the word 'wedding' the dollar signs appear in their eyes and you can hear the faint sound of 'cha-chings' as all your money comes up for grabs.

I cant say I blame them, if I had something to offer brides that they just COULDN'T do without on their big day, I'd charge like a wounded bull for it too.

But anyway, how on earth is it possible to do something original, funky, chic, romantic and memorable on a budget?

Enter Pinterest - quite possibly the greatest thing to come into my Internet life. I have the app on my phone set up and I'm completely and utterly addicted to this gigantic pin board.  I know later down the track I'll use it to pin many ideas but for now there really is only one thing I'm interested in and that is wedding ideas.  It's great to see that so many other brides out there have taken to sharing their special ideas from their special days so that others may use these ideas as inspiration for entirely new concepts.

One thing I have discovered through this (and Etsy) is the amazing simplicity of Origami and how stunning it looks for the tiny amount it costs. You can get it professionally made but I think it's actually a beautiful concept that I'm going to hand make them all myself for the big day - sometimes it's the imperfections in things that really do make them perfect.

So this weekend when I've had two seconds to spare, I was playing around with Origami flowers. Now I have spoken to several people about what I'm doing with these flowers, sometimes I say I'm putting them together as the correct Origami instructions state, other times I feel I'd love to just scatter them everywhere.  All I know is that they are most certainly going to go SOMEWHERE on the day.  These here have taken a few hours to create so for all that effort I feel they deserve to be shown off.

And the cost? $2 for the political thriller novel I tore apart which was purchased one sunny weekend at the Glenorchy Market. Even Simon can't complain about that... For now.

I've got some interesting place card ideas and favour boxes I'll share with you next time.  Also I'm going to start putting up a list of suppliers I'm looking at or even if I'm not using them, who I believe deserve a plug. Especially the people I'm dealing with through Etsy - so far everyone I've put enquiries through to have been completely amazing.

Night loves,

xoxo

Aaaaaannnd we're back...

Aaaaannnd yes, I am updating my blog on a Saturday night.

A mighty depressing thought no? Actually it's not that bad.

OK so now I'm just going to pick up with where I am at with the big plans because I really don't feel like boring you with the countless little details I've been squealing about in private for the last two months or so.

My very first exciting new thing that I collected yesterday was my very first ever FedEx delivery.  Not only did I get excited that I was getting something from FedEx, I was excited because it was my first taste of the theme colours.

Purchased from Dessy online, we have now got the boys ties (including Charlie and Henry's zip-up ties... so very spunky and cute) and part of the girls headpieces.

I have to admit the colour really was absolutely exactly how I imagined it to be buuut for security reasons I cant show you! So here, check out Charlie putting on his game-face and loving life to the full as I force him to model what his tie will look like, but in black and white...

In other news, I am jet-setting off to Sydney on Tuesday to check out some new dresses at Exclusively Bridesmaids with my Mum and Tegan. Originally we were going to go on a fabric hunt but since I found ready-made dresses that were exactly what my poor mum would've been stressing over big-time, we figured it would just be easier for her nerves if we just purchased them ourselves.

We are also doubling this as part of my birthday present and we are hitting up the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum. Nerd much. Yes, yes I am. H.Pottz is amazing.

I'll leave it there, I plan on updating the Bridal Party page in the next few weeks, I'm sure some of our crew will regret saying yes when they realise I'm putting a picture of them up for you all to see but well, they can either give me a nice new one or I can go hunting for an old Facebook one which I think does them justice.

Riiiiight.

xoxo